Today, Matt McGee honors us with an interview on how he came to be the Executive News Editor of Search Engine Land and its sister site, Marketing Land, as well as his motivation for starting his own blog, Small Business Search Engine Marketing.

Matt also shares what small business site owners should focus on now, and what Google’s Panda and Penguin updates mean for them in the current search engine marketing environment.

Enjoy these insights from one of the industry’s most respected and authoritative individuals!

Basically, no one else wanted the job, and I was feeling sorry for Danny (Sullivan) and the crew, so….

No, just kidding!

I was one of the columnists for the “Small Is Beautiful” column on Search Engine Land while I was simultaneously working for a big local marketing company called Marchex.

At around the same time that Marchex decided it didn’t want to do SEO anymore, Third Door Media – the company that owns Search Engine Land and Marketing Land – was also looking to add more writers. Since I was already writing regularly, and since they knew that I spent the first seven years or so of my post-college life in the journalism business, it was a natural fit.

I think my first title was Assignment Editor, and as we added more people and expanded into two editorial sites, I took on some new, additional responsibilities and got the fancy Executive News Editor title.

I love what I’m doing, couldn’t be happier, and get to work every day with some of the smartest and most fun people in the industry.

That blog started in 2006, when I was still doing web design and SEO for a small company here in my hometown.

It was becoming pretty obvious that blogging was the key to growth and advancement in the SEO industry, and I got a really amazing pep talk from Todd Malicoat that finally convinced me to start my own blog.

I chose the small business angle because there wasn’t much being written on SEO blogs and websites geared toward the low-budget audience. There was Search Engine Guide and maybe a couple others that I knew about. But everything else seemed like it was geared toward big clients (and trying to land big clients).

So, my motivation was not only to help small business owners, but also to help advance in the industry.

If there were one message you would convey to the small business owner online, what would that be?

Be patient. Think long-term.

Most of the snake-oil and low-budget stuff that scammy SEO companies peddle to small business owners are based on false promises of quick fixes and rapid improvements.

There’s no overnight success when it comes to SEO and online marketing; building trust and building a successful online presence takes time.

What are the important search industry developments that the small business owner should be aware of now?

I think it’s the same idea.

SEO in 2012 and going forward is more about quality than it’s ever been. Google has really gone hard after low-quality content and low-level link building with the Panda and Penguin updates.

The quick and easy stuff isn’t going to work. Focus on quality and do stuff that will last for the long haul.

Small business owners need to build their own brand. They need to become a company that people care about and talk about – a company that Google needs in its search results.

There are all kinds of content on the web and all kinds of noise on social networks. Quick-and-easy isn’t gonna help you cut through that.

Quality and hard work, along with patience and persistence, give you a shot.

What would you recommend as the most valuable online resources for the small business owner (besides your Small Business Search Engine Marketing site, of course!)?

There are also a few great daily newsletters I’d suggest for the way they cover a variety of online marketing, from SEO to analytics to email marketing and social media: The Search Cap from Search Engine Land and Marketing Day from Marketing Land.

And then once a month on my own blog, I publish a roundup of the best online marketing articles that I’ve found during the month. It usually posts on the last day of each month.

I’m involved in all of these recaps, so apologies for the self-promotion, but I do think they’re all very valuable resources for small business owners!

Thanks so much for sharing your insights with us!

You’re so welcome, Laura! Thanks to you and Heather for the opportunity to be featured on the SEO Copywriting blog!

More about Matt McGee

Besides being Executive Editor of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land, Matt McGee has a passion for helping businesses of all sizes succeed online since the late 1990s, with a specialty in SEO, local search marketing, and blogging/social media. (In other words, if you need help with your PPC campaigns, he’s not your guy.) You can find Matt on Twitter via @mattmcgee and on LinkedIn.